Thursday, June 6, 2013

Not being very mechanical, nor very popular, it’s probably surprising that one of the more enjoyable websites I frequent is that of Popular Mechanics.

They have lots of interesting stuff other than the motor-head kind of things I expected. Currently, Popular Mechanics is running stories leading up to Father’s Day from people of note and “What My Father Taught Me.” Mike Rowe’s is a particularly good one.

And any column that starts like this has to be good:

When I was 14, I woke up one Saturday morning to see my father standing at the foot of my bed, sharpening a double-sided ax.

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Here are a couple of my faves from Jon Lovett (Television Writer) at Pitzer College:

“You are smart, talented, educated, conscientious, untainted by the mistakes and conventional wisdom of the past. But you are also very annoying. Because there is a lot that you don't know that you don't know. Your parents are nodding. You've been annoying them for years. Why do you think they paid for college? So that you might finally, at long last, annoy someone else. And now your professors are nodding.”

“There are moments when you'll have a different point of view because you're a fresh set of eyes; because you don't care how it's been done before; because you're sharp and creative; because there is another way, a better way. But there will also be moments when you have a different point of view because you're wrong, because you're 23 and you should shut up and listen to somebody who's been around the block.”

For a while, I've been wondering if it's parental malpractice to put your kids in public schools. More and more, it's gone beyond wondering. For example, last week the Washington Post reported a nasty case of abusive behavior by school officials in Calvert County, Maryland: A five-year-old who brought a cowboy-style cap pistol on a school bus -- orange-tipped, and something that no one could possibly mistake for a real gun -- was interrogated for two hours (an interrogation that was so long, or so stressful, that he wet his pants) and then suspended for 10 days. Who treats a five-year-old that way?

The latest

Buy it here ...

Zoo Falls is available exclusively in ebook form at Amazon for 90 days. If you are a Prime member, you can get the book for free. Otherwise it is only $2.99.

If you are an iPad owner, you can get the free Kindle app and download it there as well.

Buy it here ...

Here it is available in ebook form, Joshua's Ladder. And now available in paperback! I hope you like it and I appreciate you checking it out. If you aren't already a member of Smashwords, it's simple to sign in.

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About Me

A fifth-generation South Dakotan, Haugen is a recovering journalist living in the Black Hills with his wife, one or two teenagers, two dogs and Ragnar, the pet rabbit.
Haugen is a former newspaper reporter, editor, sportswriter, publisher and award-winning columnist.
At various times he has lived in Montrose, Canton, Sioux Falls and Valley Springs. He's worked at the Sioux Falls Argus Leader, Tri-State Neighbor and owned the Tea & Harisburg Champion newspaper in Tea. He also had brief forays across state lines and worked at newspapers in Windom and Luverne, Minn., and Rock Valley, Iowa.
Haugen is also an avid runner and gardener.